ART-in-Education
C.S. Poppenga
Artist in Residence
Wheeler High School - Fossil, Oregon
In October 2005, I returned to Wheeler High School for a second Artist-in-Residence for one week. The school is located in the rural community of Fossil, located near the John Day Fossil Beds and Painted Hills of Oregon.
A core group of 8 students participated in this mural project.
This time the mural functions more as a "sign" rather than a painting. The mural features the school's new mascot, the Knight (a result of school district consolidation.)
LEFT:
Day Two of the residency, but Day One of the actual painting work. The previous evening, students projected their design drawings onto the wall and outlined in diluted purple paint.
Students are using the same commercial-grade high-pigment content oil-based paints that I use when I create commissioned murals.. When possible, I provide these paints and the brushes at low or no cost for chools wanting murals on exterior walls.
RIGHT:
This photo clearly shows the condition of the wall the mural was being painted on. The "ghost" of a former window is visible, complete with a shallow sill/ledge.
The more important portions of the mural images were positioned to avoid questionable substrate.
ABOVE AND ABOVE RIGHT:
Students at Wheeler took a great deal of pride of craftsmanship in the mural painting process. They exhibited a very professional attitude.
ABOVE:
Almost finished. Just a few adjustments and couple more details, like the knight's shield for example.
BELOW:
Teamwork was the by-word on this project. What a great group of students!
In this photo you see that the sky blue was adjusted for compositional reasons. The white "cloud" is in the shape of a falcon because the Falcon was the school's mascot before the school district consolidation.
ABOVE :
As this photo shows, the mural is highly visible even at some distance away.
